Couillard said Hamad has his full confidence but that Hamad volunteered to step aside temporarily until allegations of influence-peddling and conflict-of-interest have been cleared up.

“I know Sam Hamad, I have confidence in Sam Hamad, I have confidence in his integrity, in his ability to serve Quebec, and that confidence has not been shaken,” Couillard told reporters.

He described Hamad’s offer to step aside temporarily as a “noble and courageous gesture” and a “very wise” decision.

The Quebec government announced Saturday that Minister of Finance Carlos Leitão will temporarily take over the Treasury duties of Hamad, and Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity François Blais will fill in for Hamad as minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale.

Opposition parties had been clamouring for Hamad’s resignation or dismissal from cabinet since the Radio-Canada report aired.

The report claimed Radio-Canada had obtained email exchanges suggesting Hamad fed sensitive cabinet information to former Liberal politician Marc-Yvan Côté in 2010, when Côté was vice-president of the board of directors of Premier Tech. The company was seeking financial support from Investissement Québec, a government agency offering loans and loan guarantees to Quebec businesses.

In his first comments on the scandal on Saturday, Couillard said he looked “at the case of this company and the financial aid it received. Honestly, there is no government that would not have proceeded with this investment, in concert with the federal government and the company itself,” he said, adding such investments are made “almost every week in Quebec.”

Couillard said the investigation into the allegations will take a few weeks.

Opposition parties hailed Hamad’s departure but said Couillard should have reacted more quickly.

“It was the only decision that could have been taken — what’s surprising is that it took 48 hours,” said Parti Québécois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau.

He said Couillard should have gone a step further and ejected Hamad from the Liberal caucus.

Québec Solidaire MNA Françoise David said Couillard was too quick to defend Hamad.

“I think giving all our confidence to a person like Sam Hamad, it’s a little bit risky,” David said.

She said she expects more revelations about current and former Liberal cabinet ministers.

Péladeau also said Couillard should turn his attention to Transport Minister Jacques Daoust, who was head of Investissement Québec when the financial aid was given to the company.

“Mr. Daoust must at least explain his role,” Péladeau said. “Each time we are ask him questions, he doesn’t have answers, he doesn’t know. What was he doing if he doesn’t know anything? I’m not buying this. He should know because he was in charge,” he said.

In a statement, Hamad said his integrity is being “unfairly attacked.”

He said he has done nothing wrong and that in supporting the Quebec company, he was simply doing his job as a minister in order to create jobs and boost regional economic development.

Hamad said while away from cabinet, he will devote his time to clearing his name.

“I am confident that once the investigation is completed, the findings will allow me to resume my duties and get back to work for the common good.”

Former premier Jean Charest refused to answer a question about Hamad.

“It’s not the time, nor the place,” Charest told a reporter who brought up Hamad as the former Liberal premier arrived for the funeral.

Pressure had been mounting for Couillard to remove Hamad from cabinet, with opposition parties saying the allegations were so serious that Hamad must be dismissed from his high-profile post.

On Friday, Ethics Commissioner Jacques Saint-Laurent announced he would investigate the allegations about Hamad as requested by the opposition parties in accordance with the code of ethics for members of the National Assembly.

The ethics commissioner will conduct the investigation behind closed doors and if he comes to the conclusion that rules were broken, he will submit his report immediately — detailing the conclusions and recommendations — to the president of the National Assembly, Hamad and the Liberal party.

In that case, the president of the National Assembly must present the report to MNAs.

Saint-Laurent’s statement followed calls by the Opposition for the ethics commissioner to investigate Hamad’s role in the granting of a subsidy to the Rivière-du-Loup company. Côté was a member of the board of directors at Premier Tech from 1994 until his arrest on fraud and corruption charges two weeks ago.

Côté was among seven people arrested on 13 charges that include fraud of government, corruption and abuse of trust.

Following the Enquête report, the PQ asked Quebec’s anti-corruption agency, UPAC, to investigate the allegations concerning emails between directors at Premier Tech, Côté and an aide to Hamad concerning the request for financial support.

In May 2012, when Hamad was minister of economic development, Premier Tech received a loan of $11 million from Investissement Québec and a grant of $8 million from the department of economic development. The email exchanges allegedly indicate these amounts were greater than those initially approved by bureaucrats in those departments.

The report also suggested Côté had privileged access to Hamad to promote the company’s file, even though Côté was not a registered lobbyist.

Hamad initially refused to resign, but he did join the chorus calling for the ethics commissioner to investigate the allegations.

The PQ’s Bernard Drainville noted that Hamad was not only president of the Treasury Board, but also responsible for the implementation of recommendations of the Charbonneau Commission on links between political financing and government contracts.

Premier Tech issued a statement Friday saying any political contributions made by its senior executives or members of their families were legal and marginal.

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